PLAYgreen

Get a Green Job this Summer!

With school out of session, some of you students out there may be looking for a productive way to fill your summer or even the rest of your career for those of you who just graduated. If you’re passionate about being green and ecofriendly look no farther than Sustaibable Business. This company works to facilitate the green movement in all sectors of business, and they even offer a handy tool for people looking to get involved.  Check out the Dream Green Job Search Engine to see if there are any careers or internships that interest you. Who knows? You might be able to find a passion and a career.

Image from Inhabitat.com

Green Wardrobe Updates

With summer time just around to corner, some of you might be thinking about updating your wardrobe. Whether it’s a new pair of running shoes, a workout top, a cool pair of jeans or maybe even a snazzy little dress that you have your eyes on, it’s important to buy green. TreeHugger offers some excellent tips on what green brands you should buy when you’re thinking about a new look:

• For your workout gear and jackets go for Patagonia. This company has been making organic goods for over a decade and constantly works to minimize the negative impact their clothing production has on the environment by using solar power. Patagonia even donates 1 percent of all their sales to environmentalist groups.
• For more casual, everyday clothing try PeopleTree. People Tree is an international brand that is recognizes for producing Fair Trade organic clothing.
• If you’re not afraid to sift through lots of clothing to find that new workout top you’ve needed check out Buffalo Exchange. This thrift store chain always has something new and even will donate 5 cents to a charity of your choice if you bring your own bag! Plus, thrift stores are a great place to pick up some cheap workout T-shirts and shorts that you’re only going to get dirty anyways.
• For athletic shoes, go for Nike. This major brand has made some great progress in its recent green efforts. They have been using a lot of sustainable fabrics in their recent products, such as recyclable PET used in the World Cup jerseys and shoes made from manufacturing waste.

Image from: http://wrightathome.wordpress.com

10 Ways to Monitor Power in an Apartment

 
Ever heard of vampire power?  No, we're not talking about Edward and Bella.  This is about the energy used by appliances and other devices when they'returned off, or seemingly not is use.  It's called vampire power because these devices suck energy from your place without you even knowing it.  Did you know that standby power consumes 7%- 25% of a home's electricity bill?  The green blog Treehugger recently published a list of the 10 best power monitoring devices in the market that can help you figure just how much energy you’re using, and in some cases can pinpoint appliances or other devices that are sucking lots of energy. Check them out!

1. Home Base From Energy Hub

2. EMonitor From Powerhouse Dynamics

3. FIDO From EcoDog

4. TED 5000-C From The Energy Detective

5. Power Cost Monitor Wifi Edition From Blueline Innovations

6. Envi From PowerSave

7. Google Power Meter

8. Microsoft Hohm

9. Talking Plug From Zerofootprint

10. Efegy E2

Source: Treehugger

Want to Eat Healthy? There’s an App for That!

 

Eating well is an important part of living a healthy life, but sometimes knowing what to eat and even what certain foods are can be a challenge. For those of you doing your own food shopping for the first time, or if you're plain overwhelmed in your local farmer’s market, or even in the produce section at the local grocery store, here is the App for you. The Farmer’s Market Companion provides you with a guide to buying and enjoying fruits and vegetables. The App includes features such as:

• Photos and information to help you identify various produce
• Hints on how to select the best quality food
• Food storage suggestions to prolong the shelf life of your purchases
• Delicious meal recipes and more

Image: Treehugger.com

Take Back the Plate: Reasons to Cook at Home

Whether you’re studying for finals or training for your next big game, it’s always important to eat healthy food. And sometimes the healthiest and most eco-responsible thing you can do is cook for yourself at home. Sustainable Table offers some reasons why you should ‘take back the plate’ and learn sustainable home cooking:

1. It’s Economical Home: cooking is cheaper than buying food at a restaurant or pre-packaged food in a store.
2. It’s Safer: When you cook you have more control over the substances that go into your food; you can more easily avoid pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and chemical fertilizers.
3. It’s Healthier: You can control the nutritional value that goes into each meal by choosing healthy ingredients.
4. It Tastes Better: In recent decades our taste buds have been corrupted through the use of cheap chemicals and corn syrup to fill the role of traditional spices and herbs.
5. It Tastes Like You Want it To: When you cook you can customize the flavors to fit your preferences.
6. It’s Satisfying: You have the opportunity to master the skill of cooking, a skill that will serve you well for the rest of your life.

For more information about sustainable cooking at home visit SustainableTable.com.

Image: Villamilagro.com

5 Absurdly Over-Packaged Foods

Ever go to the grocery store and notice items over-packaged with either too much plastic, layers of tape, or bubble wrap? Sometimes tension exists between consumers and manufacturers because while the eco-minded want packaging to be as minimal as possible, manufacturers want good packaging design in order to attract consumers. We have found a list of 5 absurdly over-packaged foods that are not so eco-friendly. Though packaging can make some things more convenient to take on the go, these single-item packages may have gone too far!  We recommend you avoid them next time you're re-stocking your apartment or getting snacks for the dorm.

1. Individually-wrapped prunes

2. Del-monte plastic wrapped bananas

3. Pre-wrapped corn

4. Individually wrapped jelly beans

5. Shrink-wrapped cucumbers and potatoes

Source: Earth 911

Straight from the Tap

Everyone knows how important it is to stay hydrated while working out, and as more and more of us are switching from bottled water back to tap water, it's important to make sure the tap water in your area is healthy.  We're lucky here in Berkeley to have access to some of the best water in the country -- clean water directly from the Sierra snow melt, but for those living elsewhere, here are some sites that can help.

Sites like the Environmental Working Group’s “What’s in Your Water?” and the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Websitecan help you search by postal code.

If you decide that you need a filter, select the type of filter that works best on the contaminates you have in your area. National Geographic recommends purchasing filters certified by the National Sanitation Foundation. The NSF even has an extensive database of all the filters available on the market.

Tip: the RSF has two Hydration Stations where you can fill up your water bottle with delicious, chilled, filtered tap water.

Story: National Geographic Buying Guide

Image: Sherwoodinstitute.org